The Indian cricket rights debacle continues

The fight over the Indian cricket rights continues in court between ZEE Telefilms and the BCCI.

In what could be considered a moral victory for ZEE Telefilms; a division bench of the Madras high court today passed an interim order restraining the Indian cricket board from undertaking any re-bidding of the cricket telecast rights.

The division bench also made it clear that if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) went in for re-tendering of the Indian cricket telecast rights, as had been allowed by the Madras high court through an order last month, it would be cancelled till an appeal by ZEE Telefilms is fully settled.

The division bench, which stayed an earlier Madras high court order on the telecast rights issue, made the observation today after ZEE Telefilms had appealed against a 21 March court verdict arguing that if the cricket board was in the wrong, then a direction should come that ZEE be handed back the rights.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 20 April. This would mean that the BCCI, which could have gone in for a re-tendering after the ongoing Indo-Pak cricket series came to an end, will have to wait at least till the next date of hearing.

A spokesperson for ZEE Telefilms hailed the interim order and added that the company?s stand on the whole rights issue is being vindicated. BCCI was not immediately available for comments.

After a Supreme Court order earlier this year stated that the BCCI could not be sued for irregularities and breach of fundamental rights on the cricket issue under certain Articles of the Indian Constitution, ZEE Telefilms approached the Madras HC seeking redressal under Article 226.

Last month, the Madras HC, while coming down heavily on the BCCI and its former chief, Jagmohan Dalmia, however did not hand out any relief to ZEE Telefilms, stating that the latter could sue the cricket board, which also could again put up the Indian cricket telecast rights for sale to the highest bidder.